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Despite the many books on preaching, bad homiletical models of expository preaching still exist. They come from various sources and are influenced by a variety of factors. Often it is not the model itself that is at fault, but the use made of it. They include:
1. The Puritans
With ...
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Just as with the issue of instrumentation, there is controversy regarding the issue of singing in worship. The controversy erupts when we ask what types of songs are appropriate for use in the context of worship. Most of us would agree that what we want in worship is good music, not bad music. However, for some people, "good" music means classical and traditional music, while for others it means contemporary music.
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Preparing a "Top 5" list of commentaries on the book of Revelation is extremely challenging in a number of ways. I cannot point to a single commentary with which I agree entirely. My own understanding of the book is set forth in a very summary manner in the last chapter of my book From Age to Age (a chapter that is not intended to be read until all of the other chapters have been completed).
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But what about man's will with respect to the sovereignty of God? Perhaps the oldest dilemma of the Christian faith is the apparent contradiction between the sovereignty of God and the freedom of man. If we define human freedom as autonomy (meaning that man is free to do whatever he pleases, without constraint, without accountability to the will of God), then of course we must say that free will is contradictory to divine sovereignty. We cannot soft-pedal this dilemma by calling it a mystery; we must face up to the full import of the concept. If free will means autonomy, then God cannot be sovereign. If man is utterly and completely free to do as he pleases, there can be no sovereign God. And if God is utterly sovereign to do as he pleases, no creature can be autonomous.
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The Bible teaches, some will say, that we do not always do what we want to do. The apostle Paul laments in Romans 7 that the good he would do he does not do, and the thing he does not want to do is the very thing he does. Paul's frustration over the wretchedness of his condition would seem totally to refute Edwards's thesis of the relationship of choice to desire. Paul, however, is not giving expression to an analysis of the causal relationship between desire and choice. He is expressing a profound frustration that centers on the complex of desires that assault the human will.
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The term free will as applied to man is often glibly declared with little or no understanding of its meaning. There is actually no unified theory of man's free will, but a variety of competing, and often conflicting, views about it.
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With three decades plus change in the pastoral ministry, the gospel seems to be getting bigger and Jesus is appearing more gracious than ever. Maybe that's because I've never been more aware of my brokenness and more disrupted by longings for the day when the already of the kingdom capitulates to the not yet of shalom. Can it really be that we're destined to be as lovely and as loving as Jesus? (1 John 3:1-3). That promise has singular sustaining power when the inward groans of spiritual childbirth feel more like a tumor than a treasure (Rom. 8:22-25).
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Only one book is absolutely essential to save us, to equip us to obey God's will, and to glorify Him in whatever we do. Only one book gives us undiluted truth -- the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Only one book serves as our ultimate and final authority in all that it affirms. That book, of course, is the Bible, God's Holy Word. No wonder John Wesley once exclaimed, "Let me be homo unius libri" -- a man of one book!
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As many people now know, the year 2009 marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin, one of the most important figures in Western civilization. Through his faithful ministry of writing, preaching and teaching in Geneva, Calvin left a legacy that continues to impact the world to this day. Dr. Sproul ascended into the high pulpit in St. Pierre and reflected on the life and work of John Calvin, focusing in particular on his work as the theologian of the Reformation.
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The book of Malachi is the last of the twelve Minor Prophets, and little is known of the author himself aside from what may be inferred from the contents of his book. There are a number of helpful commentaries on the Book of Malachi, and the following are five of the best.
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